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Wings of What If
Kestrel was a loyal SkyWing. Looking at the two dragonets sitting by her talons, she knew that they both had to die - the SkyWings had no room for such dangerous abnormality, especially not in a time of war. Any good SkyWing would have killed them already. So why was she hesitating? Sitting by the river, the two defective hatchlings behind her, she knew that she had to do it eventually. Some stupid, sentimental part of her wanted to let them live, and she didn't know why she'd indulged it for so long - delaying the inevitable wouldn't do her any good, nothing good could ever come of this, she had to accept her misfortune and move on already. "Kestrel!" Kestrel felt dread as she recognised that voice, but still turned to look as Scarlet descended, several other soldiers behind her. Her Queen took a brief glance at the scene before her before speaking again. "I was wondering what could cause such a loyal soldier to flee without word. I never thought of you as the treacherous type." Treacherous. That single word was almost as bad to Kestrel as the entire moons-forsaken situation to begin with. With that single word, she knew that she had already ruined everything - she was no longer a trusted soldier, just some stupid traitor who had thought that she could get away with her crime. "A firescales?" Scarlet continued, though there was no need to phrase it as a question - one look at the smoke rising from the scorched ground beneath the dragonet's talons, or the way the smaller one shied away from the blistering heat told the Queen all she needed to know. "How unfortunate for you. Still," she gave a theatrical sigh, "laws are laws, and I distinctly remember letting one of them live for so long to be a violation of them." "I-I-" Kestrel stammered, but she had no idea what she could actually say to defend herself. "I don't think I have to listen to the criminal. Still, since you've been so good to me..." a cruel grin came across Scarlet's face. "I think I can make an exception. One of these darling little abominations can live." Kestrel hated the relief that filled her at that. If she were truly good to her Queen, the voice in her head said, she wouldn't be having this conversation in the first place, because the dragonets would already be dead, as they should be. "You-you would allow that, my Queen?" Even her voice was weak now, what had she become? "Of course." The grin never left Scarlet's face. "Choose which one you will keep, let the other die, and you can come back. Don't, and, well..." Scarlet flicked her tail in the direction of the soldiers behind her - at least half a dozen, there was no way Kestrel could ever fight them all and live - "I would so hate to lose one of my best soldiers over such a silly little misunderstanding." ...Alright then. Kestrel could live with that. Probably. She gave a brief glance at her two children. At least the unlucky one wouldn't be able to understand what was going on. A small mercy. The girl sat still, looking curiously at the smoke still rising from the ground around her and coming off her too-bright scales. A firescales - dangerous to everything around her. Maybe useful in fighting against other dragons, but even then, the risk to other SkyWings would always be present. The boy sat some distance away from his sister, huddled up and looking at the other dragons with large, scared eyes. Unlike his sister's scales, which nearly glowed in the fading sunlight, his were dull, nearly fading into the scenery around him. Kestrel didn't know what exactly his problems would be, but it had been clear on the journey over that he was sickly - constantly coughing and tripping over himself, barely making it to the Diamond Spray River even with his mother carrying him most of the way. Seconds seemed to drag out to become hours as Kestrel lamented her options. One was a small bundle of destruction, but a useful tool if she could be harnessed. The other one... he didn't seem to be anything special, and looked like he was already halfway inside his own grave. Still, there was only one that Kestrel could hope to be an actual mother to, and for that stupid sentimental part that had gotten her into this mess in the first place, that was enough to make her decision. In a split second, she said her mental apologies to her child, before gathering her courage and hitting the firescales with her tail, sending the dragonet into the river. The pain was instant - the dragonet's scales were unbearably hot, even that brief contact made Kestrel feel like her scales were melting together. Through the pain, she heard her daughter's surprised eep!, and the hissing of water turning to steam as the river around the dragonet heated. Kestrel grabbed her son, ignoring the surprised squeak that he made as he was lifted into the sky with his mother. The SkyWing was acting on instinct now, the pain in her tail blocking out nearly everything else. She had no idea when the soldiers started following her, but it was a while before her mind cleared enough to notice. When Kestrel saw the other dragons racing after her, she knew what had happened - her Queen's offer had been too good to be true. At least she put on an entertaining show for Scarlet, she thought bitterly, turning away from the home she had been heading towards but was clearly no longer welcome in. Instead, Kestrel flew to the forests that covered so much of the kingdom, ducking beneath the trees at the first opportunity to make following her that much harder. The dragonet in her talons was being loud now, clearly scared by all the sudden movement and unfamiliar things flashing past him. Kestrel felt bad that she could do nothing to reassure him, instead adjusting her grip so that one talon was holding him close to her and another was firmly gripped around his snout, preventing him from making any noise to give their location away. They would not die here. The sun had gone down and risen again before Kestrel finally dared to turn around. Seeing nobody behind her, she slowed, before aching wings finally demanded she stop another while later. She had no idea where they were now, but it had to be far away from Scarlet, her soldiers... and everything Kestrel had known. As the dragonet she had just thrown away her entire life for crawled underneath her wing to sleep, Kestrel of the SkyWings wept openly for the first time she could remember. ---- Sup, I live again. This is kinda a concept for an AU that I wrote to show a friend, but this may end up becoming the prologue to a story if I ever get around to writing it. For now, enjoy (and please, for all that is good in the world, give me feedback. I survive almost entirely off it). Category:Content (DarkusDragon) Category:Fanfictions Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)